NOVEMBER 13, 1995

No rest for the wicked

WHILE a few members of the F1 circus are taking the next few weeks off to recover after the long Grand Prix season, the majority of people are rushing back to Europe to get ready for an intensive testing program for the winter months. The first big test is at Estoril, in Portugal, next week with Williams, Benetton, Ferrari and Ligier all expected to be in action. Between November 26-30 the action will be in Jerez where Sauber is testing by itself before the track is handed over to McLaren and Benetton between December 4-7. Several F1 teams will be involved in sprint races at the Bologna Motor Show in Italy over the weekend of December 8-10, before another big test begins in Estoril between December 11-15. This should involve Williams, Ferrari, Jordan, Tyrrell and Arrows. McLaren will be running that week at Barcelona, while we also expect to see the team doing tire tests for Goodyear at the US company's test facility in Luxembourg. In the week before Christmas, McLaren will still be at Barcelona and will be joined by Benetton, Williams, Ligier and Jordan, although the Irish team also has a test scheduled at Jerez that week. Sauber and Ferrari will be at Paul Ricard.

After the Christmas and New Year break Estoril is expected to be busy in January with the track booked by McLaren between January 8-20. Other teams are likely to join the tests. The first 1996 cars, incidentally, are expected to appear in the first week of January.